Friday Night
by Sabet
Summary: Just about everyone in Konoha goes to some kind of party on Friday night. The only exception is one wallflower, Hinata Hyuuga. When she gets a call from her cousin for a ride home, though, everything changes. NaruHina, AU


This took _way_ longer than it should have... But I think it's pretty nice. Just a bit of NaruHina fluff. AU and all that, as you undoubtedly read in the summary. Enjoy and please review!

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Friday night. Every teenager's favorite. A night of ignoring responsibilities, seeing friends, and going to parties. Preferably with alcohol. Yeah, every teenager in Konoha loved to party. Well, everyone with one exception.

Hinata Hyuuga. The classic wallflower. She was pretty, kind, and could easily be the most popular girl in town if not for her shyness. So on this Friday night, when just about everyone she knew was at one party or another, she was at home, staring blankly at the TV.

Her pity party was rudely interrupted when her phone rang. The caller ID displayed, "H. N." Hinata sighed. Eighteen years old, nearly a year older than Hinata, drop-dead gorgeous, and rather considerate. Even if he did consider himself above putting his full name on his own cousin's phone, it was no wonder girls practically swooned over him.

She answered the phone. "Hi, Neji," she said tonelessly.

"Hi-Hinata? That you?" Neji slurred in reply.

"Are you drunk?" she answered, slightly surprised. Neji wasn't the type of person to drink underage, she'd thought.

"N-no," Neji said. "Look, I need a, a favor from ya. Can ya come and, and?"

"And what?" Hinata asked.

After a few seconds, Neji managed to finish his request. "Come and give me a ride home?"

"Fine," Hinata sighed. "But you owe me. Where are you?"

"Uchiha's," Neji answered.

"Okay, I'll be right-" But Neji had already hung up. "There," Hinata finished quietly.

She got in her dad's Trailblazer and headed over to the Uchiha home. Naturally, Neji would be there. Most of the teenagers lived there on Fridays. Sasuke, though the same age as Hinata, was known for his parties. Mostly this was because his parents were never home and nearly his entire family was on the police force, so there was next to no chance of anyone calling the cops.

"_Isn't it Neji's job to bail me out? I mean, he is the older one,_" Hinata thought to herself as she stepped into the house.

As soon as both her feet were inside the door, Neji grabbed her. "Glad you could make it, Hinata!" he exclaimed loudly.

"What are you talking about, glad I could make it?" Hinata hissed at him. "You're not drunk at all, are you?"

"Well, aren't you smart?" Neji replied. "Hinata, it's about time you actually went to a party like normal people!"

"No way," Hinata answered, backing toward the door. "I'm leaving."

Speaking softly but intensely now, Neji told her, "Hinata, unless you have a good place to go, and home on the couch does not qualify as a 'good place,' you are going to stay. And you're going to have fun. Now go join the party!"

Neji pushed her into the center room, which was filled with people, most of them holding a glass or bottle of beer. "Neji, I'm not entirely comfortable with this," Hinata protested quietly. Neji, though, only headed for his girlfriend Tenten, who was definitely a bit tipsy.

Hinata made her way to the outer wall, where she tried to ignore the scene around her. Only a few minutes later, though, a pink-haired girl came over to her, dragging a blond kid behind her. She rudely dropped him next to Hinata, saying, "Would you mind watching him? He just about threw up on me and I don't want him in my sight. Thanks!"

"No problem," Hinata said weakly to the girl she recognized as Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's girlfriend. Looking at the boy slumped next to her, Hinata let out a small gasp. Naruto Uzumaki, her crush since what seemed like forever, was closer to her than he'd ever been in his life.

Unfortunately, he was wasted.

Naruto grinned stupidly up at her. "Oh, hey, Hinata," he said. "Didn't see you before."

Hinata sighed. No matter what Neji said, she was not going to have a fun time here. Not while she had to look after a drunken seventeen-year-old. But thankfully, Naruto did give her a good excuse to leave. "Stay right there," she told Naruto, who was humming something tuneless to himself. She headed off to tell Neji that she was leaving.

Neji, though, wasn't happy about this. "And exactly why are you leaving?" he demanded.

"I'm taking Naruto back to his house. He, um, isn't in any shape to drive by himself," Hinata answered, managing not to stutter for once.

"Fine," Neji said, waving her off. "I'll get you to have fun some Friday night, though."

"Whatever you say, Neji," Hinata replied. She headed back to where she had left Naruto. Fortunately, he was still sitting there.

"C'mon, Naruto," Hinata said, supporting his weight as she walked him toward the door. "I'm taking you back to your house."

"Yeah, okay," Naruto shouted.

Hinata flinched as the noise effectively killed her left eardrum. If she were someone else, she would have gotten mad at the idiot. Even so, she nearly dropped him on the ground until she remembered that Naruto never had control of his volume level. And several drinks didn't help, either.

Hinata managed to get to her Chevy without any more incidents. She put Naruto in the passenger seat the only way she could think of: half-throwing, half-pushing. Walking around the front, she saw Naruto struggling to put the seatbelt on. Hinata leaned over the front seat, grabbed the buckle from his hands and locked it in place herself.

Naruto muttered something that was either "Thanks, Hinata" or "Fangs he got her."

Hinata drove Naruto back to his house in silence. No lights were on inside, she noticed. But then again, Naruto's father was never home. She parked the car in front of the house and was about to help Naruto to the door when he spoke.

"Hinata," he said surprisingly clearly.

She turned to face him in surprise. "Yes?" she asked.

"I just wanted to say thanks," he replied. "Most people wouldn't do this for me. Hell, most people wouldn't do this for anyone. But you're different." It was obvious Naruto was making an honest effort here, that this wasn't just the alcohol talking.

"Oh, well, you're welcome," Hinata answered him. "But really, I'm just trying to help."

"No, I mean it," Naruto insisted. "See, Sakura, she'd never even think about doing this for me. Even if I asked her. But you're doing this without anyone saying anything. You know, you're really nice."

At this, Hinata blushed shyly. "Th-thank you, Naruto," she said quietly.

His speech appeared to be over, so Hinata helped him out of his seat and walked him to his front door. Taking his key from him, she unlocked the door herself. Naruto stepped inside.

She turned to walk back to her car. Glancing at her watch, it was only 10:30. Maybe she'd just go to bed early, she decided. After all, she had nothing else to do. Then her thoughts were interrupted. "Hinata, wait," Naruto called.

"Yes, Naruto?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"Thank _you_," he said, kissing her gently on the cheek.

Hinata felt her face turn red, but she forced herself to stay standing. "N-naruto..." She noticed that his breath didn't smell like alcohol at all. "You're not drunk at all, are you?"

Naruto smiled his trademark grin. "Yeah, well, I had to pick you up somehow, didn't I?"

"Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed, turning even redder.

He laughed. "I'm only kidding, Hinata! God, lighten up!"

Hinata giggled. Naruto continued, "But really, I was wondering. I won't be here this weekend, but do you want to do something sometime? See a movie or something?"

"I'd love to," Hinata replied immediately. Then she was silent, surprised by the way her response had come so quickly.

"How about next Friday night?"

Again, she repeated, "I'd love to."

"Great. Well, I'll see you then!" he called as she headed back to the car, her head in the clouds.

She'd have to tell Neji that she _would_ have a fun time next Friday night.

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So that's it. Might have to write a "sequel" to tell about the actual date. But I probably won't. Maybe if enough people ask in their _reviews _(subtle hint).


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